Themes: Living With Disability, Redemption, Military Life
Main Cast: David Farrar, Kathleen Byron, Jack Hawkins, Cyril Cusack, Michael Gough, Leslie Banks
Release Year: 1949
Country: UK
Run Time: 106 minutes
Plot
In 1948, "The Archers" -- the writing and directing team of Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger -- had completed The Red Shoes, one of their greatest international successes, but it had yet to be released when the Rank Organization, doubting the commercial appeal of the picture, severed ties with the team and Powell and Pressburger signed a new deal with Alexander Korda's London Films. Their first project for Korda, The Small Back Room, was a dramatic change of pace, a thriller set in London in the midst of World War II. Sammy Rice (David Farrar) is explosives expert who works with British military intelligence as part of a ragtag munitions research team studying new ways to defuse enemy weapons and improve allied arms. While he's brilliant on the job, Rice is a troubled man with an artificial leg that causes him chronic pain and an appetite for alcohol that stands between him and those around him, especially his girlfriend and secretary Susan (Kathleen Byron). Rice's latest project is finding a way to defuse a new German bomb that's cleverly disguised as a children's toy, but Rice finds himself battling his superiors when Waring (Jack Hawkins), an unscrupulous businessman who has been pressed into service with the explosives team, and his colleague Professor Mair (Milton Rosmer) begin lobbying the Army to purchase a new weapon that Rice feels is both ineffective and dangerous. Despite excellent reviews and a fine cast that includes Cyril Cusack, Sidney James and Robert Morley in a cameo appearance, The Small Back Room was a box office disappointment on its original release, and it appeared in edited form in the United States under the title Hour of Glory, though later video releases allowed Americans to see the film in its original British cut. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
Review
In this change of pace after The Red Shoes (1948), Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger examined the bureaucratic and personal frustrations of a crippled munitions expert during World War II. Powell's gritty black-and-white realism is tinged with expressionistic flourishes, particularly in a fantasy about a menacing whiskey bottle that reveals the alcoholic Sammy's distress as he grapples with feelings of inadequacy and reservations about romantic bonds. His chance to dismantle a new kind of explosive becomes his possible redemption; the 17-minute sequence of his painstaking efforts to defuse a bomb precariously embedded in a pebbly Dorset beach is a triumph of visual story-telling and excruciating suspense. Despite a positive critical response and excellent performances from David Farrar, Kathleen Byron, and Cyril Cusack, The Small Back Room was a box office flop. Over 20 minutes were cut for TV prints; and it was released in the U.S. in 1952 as Hour of Glory. ~ Lucia Bozzola, All Movie Guide
Sammy Rice (David Farrar) is a scientist working with a specialist "back room" team during World War II. He is brought in to solve the problem of booby-trapped devices being dropped from Nazi bombers. But Sammy and his girlfriend Susan (Kathleen Byron) have to overcome some problems with bureaucracy as well as the pills and booze that Sammy takes to control the pain caused by his artificial foot.
Patrick Macnee, who became well-known playing "John Steed" on The Avengers, plays the uncredited role of a man at a committee meeting, his fourth film appearance.[3]
Bandleader Ted Heath appears, uncredited, as a band leader.[4]
The Small Back Room was nominated for a 1950BAFTA Award as "Best British Film".[6]
DVD
The Region 2 DVD was released in May 2004 by Studio Canal / Warner Home Video. In Region 1, The Criterion Collection released the film in August 2008. The release included an essay, an interview with cinematographer Christopher Challis, an audio commentary and excerpts from Michael Powell's audio dictations for his autobiography.
